Russia Could Pull The Plug On The OPEC Deal

Russia could pull out of the OPEC oil production cut deal before the end of 2018—or right after—as it has no obligation to stick with it, Iran’s Energy Minister, Bijan Zanganeh said . Russia “has no commitment to stay with it by the end of the year and OPEC may choose to alter the plan which I think would be unlikely,” Zanganeh said. So far Russia has kept its obligations under the deal, although Energy Minister Alexander Novak has mentioned that the deal may end sooner than December 2018 if the oil market rebalances. Russia aimed to cut 300,000 bpd from its record-high daily production rate for October 2016, which averaged 11.2 million bpd. These comments, however, were made when there were indications the global oil supply overhang was shrinking and demand was growing. Now, production outside OPEC is growing as well, most notably, of course, in the United […]